01-01-2005, 04:59 PM
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Title:Uber Member
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Join Date: Jun 2004
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Posts: 12,940
Frubals: 250143
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Christian hostility?
Full article here
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Dar-Ul-Arqam, which enrolls more than 300 students at three area locations under the supervision of the Islamic Education Institute of Texas, has been seeking membership for its Adel Road campus in the private school association, known as TAPPS. The association includes 238 schools across the state, including Awty International School, Incarnate Word Academy, Northland Christian School and St. Thomas High School in the Houston area.
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Membership typically expands opportunities for private-school students to compete against other schools in academic and athletic events.
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A reply to the request for admission -
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In his correspondence, Burleson quoted a verse from the Quran as calling on Muslims to be violent toward Christians and Jews. He noted that most TAPPS member schools are Christian. "Why do you wish to join an organization whose membership is basically in total disagreement with your religious beliefs?" he asked in the two-page letter, which included 10 questions.
He asks about the school's attitude toward "the spread of Islam in America" and the goals of the school "in this regard."
Finally, he suggests that some TAPPS members may not be tolerant of Muslims: "Why do you think that the current member schools of TAPPS will not be biased against your school, based on the fundamental difference in your religion and Christianity, since about 90% of TAPPS schools embrace Christianity?"
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Iesa Galloway, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Houston office,...[said]..."The TAPPS letter, a symbol of religious intolerance, has no place in a nation that was originally built by those seeking asylum from such intolerance,"
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A week later, Katbi got a letter from Burleson that included questions Burleson said the school needed to answer before it could be admitted to TAPPS.
"Do you teach your students to 'Make war on them (Christians and Jews) until idolatry is no more and Allah's religion reigns supreme' (Koran 8:37)?" Burleson asked.
Katbi said he was "astonished" by the letter. He did not reply to the questions.
The bylaws of TAPPS do not indicate that the organization is open only to Christian schools.
Hamdani, the ACLU representative, said the organization would come under special restrictions if it accepts federal funding. But the TAPPS Web site indicates that the nonprofit organization relies on dues from member schools and sporting-event fees.
"It's the venom in that letter that's so disturbing," Hamdani said. While the letter is structured as a series of questions, he said, "they're really more assumptions than questions."
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